Fittingly as things would later transpire, it was on the ninth tee in the final round of the BMW PGA Championship on Wentworth’s West Course that things started to go south for Matteo Manassero and north for the eventual champion, Billy Horschel.
At the end of what was a pulsating afternoon of golf, the American claimed the title for a second time, making an eagle on the second playoff hole to beat, you guessed it, Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy three-putted the 71st hole last week at the Irish Open and missed an eagle attempt on the 18th to lose by a shot to Rasmus Hojgaard. This week’s result was a little easier to swallow, because it was at the hands of an eagle, but still, it’s been a difficult stretch.
“Two weeks in a row, I’ve played well,” McIlroy said. “Just not quite well enough. But you know, happy with where my game is and happy where it’s trending. I’ve got a week off here, and then get back at it in the Dunhill in a couple weeks.”
The three-shot advantage Manassero had to start the day had already shrunk before he drove into sand on the ninth hole and dropped a shot. Another bogey followed after a wild tee shot at the short 10th and suddenly the names atop the leaderboard numbered three. Which lasted only seconds, before Aaron Rai’s sixth birdie of the day took the Englishman to 18 under par and a one-shot edge over Manassero and the burly Thriston Lawrence.
It was just about then that Wentworth entered a handily-placed metaphorical phone booth and reemerged as Augusta National, where, as golf fans know, the Masters Tournament doesn’t start until the back-nine on Sunday. And this, as it turned out, was the Masters personified. It was all-action stuff.
First to 19 under was Lawrence courtesy of a birdie—his third in four holes—at the short 14th. Next was Horschel, whose eagle at the par-5 12th was followed by a birdie, his 23rd of the week. Meanwhile, Rai had stalled alongside Manassero, one shot ahead of McIlroy. The horse race was down to five participants.
A McIlroy deuce at the short 14th took the Northern Irishman to 18 under, one back. Wild tee shots from Horschel and Manassero off the 15th tee led to a brace of bogeys. For both the race seemed all but run when Lawrence doubled his advantage. A 30-foot putt for what was the South African’s fourth birdie on the back-nine toppled into the cup on the 16th green.
Ah, but we weren’t done yet. With two par 5s to finish, the potential for drama remained.
Needing to be aggressive, Rai went for the 18th green from 245 yards out. He missed long and left. Splash. Bogey and a 17-under-par finish.
Moments later, McIlroy found the elusive 17th green in two. And when the 45-foot putt unerringly found the cup, the eagle sent the four-time major champion to 20 under par and a tie for the lead. Horschel, almost incidentally, made a birdie to remain one off the pace.
Meanwhile, Lawrence laid up on the 18th. His approach finished 25 feet short and his putt inches from the cup. Par. And a 20-under-par target for McIlroy and Horschel.
Off the 18th tee, the Northern Irishman found the fairway and the American sand. Going for the green with a shot he had already hit out of bounds and into water earlier this week, McIlroy this time missed everything left—the putting surface and water. The pitch from the rough was always going to be bold and finished maybe five yards past the cup. And the putt never looked like going in. Playoff.
Even then we weren’t done. After laying up, Horschel nearly holed his eagle pitch, the ball missed the flagstick by inches. But in went the subsequent four-foot putt to complete the three-way playoff.
The extra holes added up to just two. After Lawrence was eliminated first time round, McIlroy and Horschel went at the 18th one more time, when Horschel would make the eagle to win.
“My heart was pounding on the last couple shots, the last couple holes, and especially in the playoff but it’s always fun being in those situations,” Horschel said. “That’s what we work so hard for. That’s what I’ve worked so hard for, and that’s what I’ve always wanted to be, in situations like that, going against the best players in the world and hopefully be able to come out on top on the day.”
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